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Science Fiction Art News
SF Signal
A science fiction blog featuring science fiction book reviews and with frequent ramblings on fantasy, computers and the web. |
| 1. MIND MELD: SF/F Books That Would Make A Great TV Series |
SF/F fans love to talk about their favorite books being adapted for film. But what about television? Are there books better suited for a television series? We asked this week's panelists (inspired by a suggestion from James Wallace Harris)...
Q: What SF/F book would make a great television series? How would you adapt it for the small screen?
Here's what they said...
Nancy Kress
Nancy Kress is the author of over 20 books of SF, fantasy, and writing advice. Her latest is Steal Across the Sky. Her fiction has won three Nebulas, a Hugo, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
 My choice for a TV miniseries would be More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Since the book is already divided into three distinct sections, it could be presented as three two-hour episodes. It focuses on character rather than on special effects, which is good for the small screen. Finally -- it's a wonderful story.
Mark Teppo
Mark Teppo is the author of the occult-inflected urban fantasy series The Codex of Souls. The second volume, Heartland, updates the Grail Legend for the 21st century. He blogs at www.darkline.com.
  I don't have cable, but I have iTunes season passes to two shows: Lost and Leverage. And they couldn't be more different. Lost is successful because it gives us something to obsess over at the water cooler other than the current economic and political climate. There are a number of other things that it does very well, but for the current conversation, let's stick with obsessive minutia-dwelling community that it engenders. Lost doesn't pander to its audience; it expects (and, in some ways, demands) that its audience will not be satisfied with the first layer of storytelling, and that we'll go digging to understand the symbols and inferences. It's almost an ARG in that aspect. But you have to have the infrastructure and the patience of your overlords to pull it off, and Lost almost didn't.
Which makes things like Grant Morrison's The Invisibles or Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen tough sells. Done right, I think they'd redefine television (especially the 3-D ending of TLOEG's Black Dossier), but they demand a level of attention to detail that I don't think TV executives could sustain. Sadly. Plus they're both finite, and need to be that way. That doesn't mean people won't rewatch them, but there's no real revenue stream there for TV people to get excited about.
Leverage is pulp, and make no bones about being exactly that. The episodes are whimsical yet tightly paced, the writing is sharp, and it is written by people who are just as into this sort of thing as they expect their audience to be. It's good, solid entertainment, and every week it makes me fall in love with the idea of writing ensemble scripts all over again. But I wish it had a little whiff of that Lost supernatural element. Which makes it over into either Doc Savage or The Shadow. The Shadow, re-envisioned with the visual style that Bill Sienkiewicz brought to it in 1987, would be fantastic. But I think Chris Roberson and I are the only ones who'd be watching it on a regular basis.
All of which is a roundabout way to say I think Charlie Stross' Bob Howard books would adapt really well to the long-serial TV format. It's The IT Crowd meets Creature Feature. There's the pitch. You can see it already, can't you?
Gail Carriger
Gail Carriger is the author of steampunk urban fantasies Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless who, when not excavating in Peru, lives on a vineyard in Northern California with one cat, three vehicles, and fifty pairs of shoes.
 I want a weekly Hayao Miyazaki adaptation of Pratchett's Discworld with a Joss Whedon influenced script. Could be a train wreck, could be brilliant.
Mark Charan Newton
Mark Charan Newton's novel, Nights of Villjamur, is published by Tor UK (Pan Macmillan) and is due out in the US this June from Bantam Spectra (Random House). Visit his site at markcnewton.com
 I've always loved the idea of seeing Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood adapted for the small screen. It's one of the most important pieces of fantasy literature - a meditation on fantasy itself. My knowledge of television production is very limited, but the story of a son's exploration of his father's journal, of Ryhope Wood, and encountering the "mythagos" is in itself an episodic journey of investigation and retreat, so this would suit being broken up into three or four programmes. It would not require much in the way of CGI/special effects, either, being set in a post-war English woodland. The story creates mythological images, and so I'd love to see some of the treatment similar to Pan's Labyrinth, or at least have those aesthetics recreated for the inner-woodland scenes. Some of the cinematography for the recent BBC adaptation of the Wallander novels have been intensely beautiful, almost capturing the soul of a fading summer, and I can imagine that effect being suitable for scenes set outside of Ryhope Wood. But Mythago Wood is also a very, very British story, so there would have to be great sensitivity to that fact, or it would no longer retain the essence of the book.
Holly Phillips
Holly Phillips lives with computer and cat in a small city on a large island off the west coast of Canada. You can visit her at www.hollyphillips.com. Check out the weekly "Dear Reader" essays while you're there!"
 CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series. Action, intrigue, betrayal, exotic settings, alien assassins, woo! You'd have to take a Battlestar Galactica approach, with the emphasis on the ongoing story arc rather than episodes. Or maybe I mean a West Wing approach? Just go ahead and dig in to the politicking and intrigue, as if (gasp) actual grownups watch SF TV! The big trick would be in doing an effective job on the alien characters, who are humanoid, yes, but I for one got awfully sick of the Star Trek aliens who look just like humans only with latex face masks. I think it's time for television to get serious about CGI.
Katherine Allred
Katherine Allred lives in the southern USA and has ten published novels including Close Encounters and the upcoming Close Contact, books one and two of the Alien Affairs series.
 Ah, how about the one where me and Aragorn...Oh, wait, you mean a REAL book. Wow, hard question to answer. Not because I can't think of one but because about a thousand started screaming "Pick me! Pick me!"
After a lot of soul searching, I'd have to say The Host, by Stephanie Meyer. It has everything that would make a good TV series; aliens, rebel forces, bad guys, good guys, danger, and a love triangle like none you've ever seen before. Plus, it's one of the few sci-fi books that had me grabbing a box of tissue while loud sobs wracked my body as I neared the end.
So how would I adapt it for the small screen? Um...I'd take out all the description and put in lots of stage directions so I could boss the actors around. Okay, so I never claimed to be a screen writer. Plot wise, I'd do a two hour pilot that starts with Wanderer being put into Melanie's body and ends just as Wanderer/Melanie finds Jared. Then each following episode would be life with the rebels and fighting against/outsmarting the souls as Wanderer discovers what it means to be human.
Kylie Chan
Kylie Chan is an Australian who lived for ten years in Hong Kong and has used Chinese mythology in her Dark Heavens and Journey to Wudang fantasy series. She is based in Brisbane, Australia, and her website is at www.kyliechan.com.
 I stood looking at my bookshelf for a long time pondering this, and my final selection was Cinnabar by Edward Bryant. Published in 1976, this collection of short stories is vivid, disturbing, and still completely relevant today - a masterpiece. Cinnabar is the story of a future city with a life and mind of its own, straddling multiple strands of time, and inhabited by denizens who are intelligent and human, especially the large blue cat nanny. It wouldn't be hard to adapt for the small screen, either; each story is self-contained and Mr Bryant has worked on many screenplays in his long and distinguished career. I would love to see all of Ed Bryant's short stories brought to life this way; they'd bring a depth and intelligence that is often lacking on the small screen.
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the New York Times best-selling author of more than 50 novels - primarily science fiction and fantasy, a number of short stories, and numerous technical and economic articles. His first story was published in Analog in 1973, and his latest book is Arms-Commander.
 Actually, I'm going to make a suggestion from my books. Part of the reason for that is because for years, people have been asking which of my fantasy books would make a good movie, and I've always had to say "none of them" because I tend to write fantasy on a large canvas, and large canvases don't translate well into single movies. On the other hand, they can translate well into mini-series. And I'll bend the "rules" further by suggesting not just one book, but the entire Recluce series, although I would produce the series in "chronological" order [and I didn't write them in that order], beginning with Magi'i of Cyador. With sixteen books to work from, that mini-series could go on for years, and since there are no more than two books about any one set of characters, in essence, the world becomes the main and continuing character. In another way, the books are already "adapted" for the small screen because they're written from the viewpoint of what each character sees and experiences, so that even in large battle scenes, of which there are a few, the reader only sees what the character does. This would limit greatly the need for special effects and other expensive production requirements.
Amber Benson
Amber Benson is best known for her portrayal of 'Tara' on the hit television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An actress/writer/director, her most recent work includes the independent films: The Killing Jar, Another Harvest Moon and Drones (which she co-directed with Adam Busch). She is also the author of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series ( Death's Daughter and Cat's Claw) for Penguin and her first middle grade novel, Among The Ghosts, will be published by Simon and Schuster in late 2010.
 I am a huge fan of Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land. I think that turning it into a mini-series for television- where you actually have the time to explore all the spiritual underpinnings of the book-would be an interesting way to explore the material in a new way.
J.A. Pitts
John A Pitts learned to love science fiction at the knee of his grandmother, listening to her read authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard during my childhood in rural Kentucky. Tor Publishing has purchased the first three books in John's Black Blade urban fantasy series. The first -- Black Blade Blues -- comes out April 27th, 2010. Of course, if you want a sneak peak on the novel, you can read the short story which launched it all in the DAW anthology Swordplay, edited by Denise Little (June 2009). Other short fiction can be found in such fine magazines as Fortean Bureau, Talebones magazine (issue 36 and issue 39) as well as two additional DAW anthologies Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies (Oct 2009), and The Trouble with Heroes (Nov 2009). John has a BA in English and a Masters of Library Science from University of Kentucky. When he's not writing, you can find him practicing martial arts with his children or spending time with his lovely wife. John is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
 Tough question. I'd love to see an ongoing series for many of my favorite worlds and characters, but I've put a lot of thought into this question. It's an easy answer to me. I'd love, love, love to se the Harry Potter books made into an ongoing PBS series along the lines of "All Creatures Great and Small".
I loved that television series. It was comforting to watch, very homey, and peaceful, yet entertaining. I'm not a big fan of the small screen in general, what with all the intellectual hollow programming out there, but something with some wit and deep emotion would rule the day.
I believe a weekly series with the wizarding world would be a huge success. As much as I love the books, I think for a television series, I'd make Hermione the main character, and include more of the world around the edges of the books main threads.
So much of the world begs to be explored, that I could see episode after episode dealing with the daily lives of wizards and witches, and their interactions with the mundane world. It's the Urban Fantasy aspect of it that appeals to me so much, I think.
Kaaron Warren
I think the concept short story collection lends itself beautifully to the possibility of being translated into a TV series, each story as a well-thought out episode which ends where the writer intended it to end, not with a contrived cliff-hanger which is forgotten by the following week. I considered a few of these before making my choice.
I love Steven Wright's Going Native, his collection of connected novellas. I found it horrifying it its searing evisceration of human motive and behaviour. But it's hugely complex, each novella deserving a movie.
I also love David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, also connected novellas. The SF elements are so well-wrought, and the nature of the connections enticing for television.
Then there's the witty, visceral Bureau of Lost Souls, by Christopher Fowler. Full of mystery, disturbance, evil, retribution and perfectly wrought dialogue, I think this would work in a Tales of the Unexpected kind of way, with the final episode tying it all together, as does the final story in the book. However, an ever-changing cast of characters, a high level of gore and a lack of surprise about the ending of each story (which is the whole point of the book but may have viewers saying, "I knew it!") led me to another choice.
Sarah Monette's The Bone Key is a series of ten stories featuring Kyle Murchison Booth, brilliant, self-serving, flawed, shy, awkward. He works in a museum but has much esoteric knowledge, enabling him to solve problems way beyond the normal realms of human experience. The book has mystery, the supernatural, recurring intelligent characters and enough drama to hold an audience.
How would I do it? Monette says she is inspired by M.R. James and H.P. Lovecraft so the atmosphere must be thick, dark and scary. M.R. James loved to tell terrifying ghost stories by moonlight in the comfort of his college rooms (the brilliant Robert Lloyd Parry depicts this beautifully) so I'd try to have that feel, as if we are sitting at the feet of a master story teller. The voice over would be gentle and seductive, drawing us down into the depths as if we were wandering a garden path.
In the first story, "Bringing Helena Back" we can establish the mood, structure, character and setting of the series.
It begins in the museum where Booth works. He is only 35, but his hair is completely white. There are many elements of Booth's past and family history which inform his present so we'd need to see parts of his background in flashback.
He is visited by Augustus Blaine, a friend from college come to him for help. Booth tells us that Blaine was curious, lively and popular whereas Booth was dull, plain and mostly ignored. We need to hear this honest, slightly self-pitying assessment in order for us to understand Booth and to feel empathy for him.
Blaine brings a book in cipher to Booth. Kyle loves puzzles and these should feature in the style of the series. We'll see puzzles in the opening sequence and between scene changes. Blaine says it is a book which will bring his beloved Helena back to life.
As Blaine talks, Kyle remembers how it was at college when Blaine met Helena, who was "Slender and tall, with ruddy golden hair." Blaine falls in love with her from the start, Booth hates her and mistrusts her. Blaine and Helena marry; Helena dies in sleazy circumstances. We know a little bit more about Kyle when he says "I was not sorry to hear about her death."
We should see the present, as Blaine talks about his year of grief. We should see Kyle at work amongst his strange paraphernalia of animal skulls and other items, nodding as his friend weeps.
Kyle is deeply flawed but self-aware, giving scope for a character who sometimes makes poor choices but who remains both fascinating and likable.
Blaine says he wants to bring Helena back to life and Kyle agrees to help him.
The stories of The Bone Key are all self-contained mysteries which creep you out and draw you in at the same time. I'd love to see them on the screen.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
I have two answers to this question. One is self-serving, and the other isn't.
  Let me get the self-serving answer out of the way. My Retrieval Artist series, starting with The Disappeared and going through Duplicate Effort, are mysteries set on the moon. They follow mystery conventions, would be easy to film, and would be unusual on television. They could also be what are called "bottle shows," done within already built sets, because most of the action takes place within a dome on the moon. Some of the rest of the action, as in Extremes, where a runner in the Moon Marathon dies during the race, take place outside the dome. But outside the dome is the Moon itself, desolate, rock-filled, not much to see (except the Earth, lurking beautifully in the background). So the series would have many different stories to tell, following my Retrieval Artist detective, Miles Flint, his friend in the police department, Noelle de Ricci, and several other recurring characters. If there's money, there are stories that can be filmed on Mars and Jupiter's moons, but mostly, this would be an inexpensive series to film. (Which is probably why I'm in talks right now with two different Hollywood producers on various aspects of the series--one who wants the Recovery Man character (who is a villain in the RA novels, but a hero in the Analog story, "The Recovery Man's Bargain") for a feature-length film, and the other who wants the books for a TV series.)
  As for the non self-serving answer, I think it would be fascinating to see Connie Willis's time travel novels (from Doomsday Book to Blackout) done as a TV series. Of course, the series would focus on Oxford, where the historians and their time machine live. This would be a good British TV series, like Torchwood or Doctor Who. The series would have to focus on the historians and the time travel that they do, but if it were filmed in England, the film costs would again be low. So much still exists there. They could film at Oxford, they could film London during the Blitz (by doing the Underground tunnels and some judicious shots of St. Pauls) and they could follow characters as they learn that time travel may not be as easy as first thought. There's a lot of room for human stories, continuing stories, and for frightening stories of loss and redemption.
So there you go, Hollywood, ITV, and the BBC. Some things for you to consider....
Chris Roberson
Chris Roberson's books include the novels Here, There & Everywhere, The Voyage of Night Shining White, Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, X-Men: The Return, Set the Seas on Fire, The Dragon's Nine Sons, End of the Century, Iron Jaw and Hummingbird, Three Unbroken, Warhammer 40K books ( Dawn of War II and Sons of Dorn), Book of Secrets, and the comic book mini-series Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as Asimov's, Interzone, Postscripts, and Subterranean, and in anthologies such as Live Without a Net, FutureShocks, and Forbidden Planets. Along with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies, and he is the editor of anthology Adventure Vol. 1. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award four times--once each for writing and editing, and twice for publishing--twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and three times for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Short Form (winning in 2004 with his story "O One"). Chris and Allison live in Austin, Texas with their daughter Georgia.
I've been thinking about this question for a solid week now, and still having trouble forming my answer. My first thought was that a live-action television series based on the late, great Kage Baker's Company novels would be the obvious answer. With time-travel and immortal androids, you could feature storylines set in a variety of historical periods--past, present, and future, and using whatever sets or backlots are available--with the same characters in each. And the mix of science fiction and historical intrigue would make for a potent storytelling engine. Lots of humor, a bit of romance, some mind-bending scientific concepts, and interesting historical trivia. How could it miss?
But then I thought, "Well, wouldn't they just screw it up?"
By "they," of course, I mean those mythical Hollywood people. You know, the ones who make everything. The ones who take good ideas and turn them into horrible movies and television shows.
There *are* good TV shows, of course. Even a handful of terrific ones. (LOST, I'm looking at you. Or Venture Bros, if you want to go with the animated side of the street.) But the vast majority of television programming is mediocre at best, and unwatchably horrible at worst.
How many times has a cherished book of yours been turned into a television series or miniseries or special, only to be unwatchably horrible? Earthsea, anyone? Riverworld? Dinotopia?
So yes, if the hypothetical TV show in question could be that one in a million quality show, on par with something like LOST, then I'd go with Kage Baker's Company novels. If it ends up like virtually every book-to-TV outing we've had to date, I'd just as soon pass. TV can stick with dopey reality shows, and I'll stick with Baker's novels.
Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams is the author of over 25 novels (including the Hardwired series, the Dread Empire's Fall series, Voice Of The Whirlwind, and Implied Spaces) and numerous short stories. He has won the Nebula award twice (for "Daddy's World" "The Green Leopard Plague") and has been moninated for the Hugo award for both his novels and his short fiction.
 I have often thought that a novel by Tim Powers would make an excellent film- the problem is deciding which one. The wonderful color and whimsy of Anubis Gates, with warring magicians battling in Regency London? Declare with its terrific scenes of a Cold War called into being by sinister djinn? Expiration Date, with its characters snorting up ghosts through straws?
Hollywood, as it happens, has already made its decision, buying On Stranger Tides to adapt into the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. But did they buy the book, or only the title?
And in any case, Powers' works deserve better than to be turned into sequels to someone else's work. I nominate Last Call, which features poker, card magic, Las Vegas history, the Fisher King, and Bugsy Siegel. Poker has never been more fashionable than now, and the climactic scene, with its giant villain towering over Hoover Dam, is tailor-made for a Hollywood CGI extravaganza.
I've been wanting to see this movie for years.
James Wallace Harris
James Wallace Harris is a life-long science fiction fan. With Olivier Travers, he created SciFan.com in 1999 and he programmed the database system. Since the early days of the web, James has maintained The Classics of Science Fiction, which was based on his article from the fanzine Lan's Lantern back in the 1980s. He quit SciFan to study fiction writing and he attended the Clarion West Writer's Workshop in 2002. He now practices blog writing at Auxiliary Memory. James has been happily married for thirty years to his wife Susan. He works as a programmer and sys admin but dreams about space exploration and writing a SF 2.0 novel.
I believe the twelve part HBO/Showtime television season is the ideal way to present a novel dramatically. The average novel runs ten to twenty hours on audiobook, and film makers prove time and again that the two hour movie is the wrong size to visually translate a novel. Charlaine Harris and Jeff Lindsay's success teach that hit television can be based on books. True Blood and Dexter on HBO and Showtime illustrates why authors should want their work to appear on the small screen rather than the more glamorous big one. In fact, I think the best way to watch a novel is to buy the Blu-ray box set and enjoy the twelve hours at my leisure.
Now, the sixty-four thousand dollar question: Are there any science fiction stories worthy of this twelve hour treatment? We all have favorite books we'd like to see dramatized, but do we know of any that would achieve the mass success of True Blood, Dexter, The Sopranos, Big Love, Deadwood, The Tutors, or even half-hour comedies like Weeds, Sex in the City and Californication? Romance and mystery genres dwarf the science fiction fan base, so are there any SF stories that could provide their kind of success? We know two hour science fiction movies sell better than any other kind of story, so why hasn't that appeal translated to television? It could be the same reason why science fiction books don't sell as well as romance and mystery. Television is character driven, whereas blockbuster sci-fi movies are thrill rides.
   What science fiction book series do I think can compete with Dexter and True Blood? Well, strangely enough I'd promote the Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw robot novels by Isaac Asimov. Sure, they're tame compared to Dexter, but they could be spiced up for modern viewers. Real robots are evolving fast in laboratories, so a TV series about robots would help explore our near future. Artificial intelligence and the singularity are relevant topics. Such a series could be gripping if the producers made the show realistic and philosophical. Set it slightly in the future, placing robots into logical jobs, and make the human form Olivaw look near human but act like a true AI. The producers would have to go well beyond Commander Data, who was essentially comic relief, and even further than Roy Baty, Pris and the other replicants of Blade Runner, who merely showed a will to live. What will be the existential philosophy of artificial minds?
And I'd abandon the off world settings. Intelligent robots might happen this century, but interstellar travel won't. I'd mine all the Asimov robot stories for ideas for subplots, and maybe even make Dr. Susan Calvin a character. If the series was a success and ran longer than the Asimov material, I'd want current science fiction writers to create new stories set in the same universe. Battlestar Galactica used robots for four seasons and never explored the theme realistically. Caprica ignores their realistic potential too. I'd want the shows to be a lot more like Law & Order than the silly glitz of CSI. The show should have the impact of Darwin in the nineteenth century and convince its viewers what intelligent machines will mean to us. |
| 2. REVIEW: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded by John Scalzi |
 REVIEW SUMMARY: A fun, interesting collection of advice and musings from John Scalzi
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A collection of notable posts from John Scalzi's Whatever Blog, covering just about everything under the sun.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Scalzi has an honest, to-the-point manner through which he dispenses all sorts of thoughts on a number of things. He makes a lot of sense, and as such, this book makes for a very good read when it comes to writers or just about everyone else.
CONS: A little repetitive at times.
BOTTOM LINE: His advice, reflections and interests make a lot of sense. Scalzi's a smart guy, you should listen to him. Last year, I came across John Scalzi's blog, Whatever, shortly after reading his novel Old Man's War, and was hooked. I enjoyed his science fiction, and ended up buying his other three novels that followed Old Man's War, and bookmarked his web page for casual reading. I appreciate his tone and style, and over the past year or so, he's written a lot of interesting posts/essays on any number of topics, from writing to politics to his personal life, from serious to darkly comical.
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded is a sort of "Best Of" collection from this site, covering much of the same cross section of topics: writing, family, work, politics, science fiction, and so on, ranging from deadly serious to side-splittingly comical. Where some authors (such as Robert Heinlein, with his book Grumbles from Beyond the Grave), released collections of letters or short essays, Scalzi's version is the updated 20th century version. Light to read, and very interesting, it's certainly something that a number of fans of the speculative fiction genre, and beyond, would enjoy.
What I appreciate about Hate Mail, and of Whatever, is Scalzi's unfettered honesty about himself and his opinions about how he sees things around him. While opinionated, there's a good amount of sense in his arguments - his opinions don't seem to spring from someone taking any number of issues at face value - and because of that, there's a lot there that I agree with, and when I don't, I can see where he's coming from.
Scalzi seems to be a very open person. With his blog, AIM, e-mail, Twitter, and his Facebook and Myspace pages, it's pretty easy to follow him around. Whatever is pretty open about his life: there's several interesting sections on how he sees and values his family, his job and his words, and there are times when the book is extremely serious -- the day after September 11th, retrospectives after a miscarriage and losing a job -- while others jump to a humorous moment that would leave me laughing for a while afterwards. It's a mixed bag when it comes to topics, but it works well, and the book as a whole, is an entertaining, interesting read.
There are a couple of points about the book that I don't get, mainly in what the book is for. There's no chronology with the entries (although they are loosely linked together by topic), and as such, the book doesn't really highlight any sort of evolution in Scalzi's thinking or writing - the book is mainly just a series of a number of essays, devoid of any overarching topic. As these are all posts from Scalzi's blog, it stands to reason that anyone who's intent on saving a few pennies will just read the blog.
Still, the collection of posts here really does stand out, and I can see why they were placed in the book. While there isn't necessarily a strong order to them, there are a lot of very good points throughout the book. When it comes to writing, this is a book that I would press into anyone's hands if they expressed an interest in becoming an author. Scalzi, through his own experiences, doesn't seem to have any qualms about sharing, and provides a lot of perspective on his profession. There are times when the book is repetitive (the topics of "authors needing to make sure that they treat writing as a job" and "President George Bush is an idiot" are two topics that are gone over several times), but on the whole, there's a feeling of someone who genuinely likes to share his opinion. Scalzi is a smart man, and for that reason, I found myself continuing through the book nodding along, or at least thinking a bit harder about a couple of things throughout. His advice, reflections and interests make a lot of sense.
Still, if there's any one drawback that this book has, it's lacking a picture of his cat with bacon taped to it. Oh well, there are still some things you have to go online for. |
| 3. Pyr is Celebrating its 5th Anniversary With an Essay Contest - Win a Trip to Dragon*Con! |
 Pyr is celebrating its 5th Anniversary! To celebrate, they are sharing the love by holding a writing contest.
Pyr invites readers and fans to submit a short essay on the theme: Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you.
The prizes for the best 3 essays are: - 3rd Place - a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake and five complimentary books of their choice from the Pyr catalog.
- 2nd Place - a complete set of Pyr books as published by the contest end date of June 1, 2010 (one copy of each title, without duplicating those that appear in more than one binding) and a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake.
- The Grand Prize Winner will embark on a "Pyr and Dragons Adventure: that includes:
- A round-trip flight to Atlanta, GA during Dragon*Con, one of the largest multi-media, popular culture conventions focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. Dragon*Con 2010 will be held September 3 - 6, 2010 (Labor Day weekend).
- Two nights hotel accommodation in Atlanta, GA, Sept. 3 and 4, 2010.
- Dragon*Con membership/entry badge.
- Dinner with Special Pyr Author Guests and Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders--details to be announced!
Be sure to check Pyr's website for rules and details. |
| 4. WINNERS: 'Superluminal' (eBook) by Vonda N. McIntyre |
 The winners of our Superluminal eBook Giveaway are:
- Rachel Conlon
- Gio Clairval
Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone who entered.
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| 5. SF Tidbits for 3/10/10 |
 Interviews/Profiles
News
Articles
Want More? See SF Signal's Twitter and Facebook pages for additional tidbits not posted here! |
| 6. Free Fiction: 'The Hambleton Affair' by George Mann (A Sir Maurice Newbury Story) |
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If you're not familiar with George Mann's Newbury and Hobbes stories, you should be. They combine the mystery of Sherlock Holmes and the flavor of steampunk. The first novel in which Sir Maurice Newbury (Special Agent to Queen Victoria and specialist in the occult sciences) and Victoria Hobbes (his able assistant) were introduced was The Affinity Bridge (reviewed here), an excellent book that threw in zombies for good measure. They returned in the novel The Osiris Ritual, recently reviewed here.
Along the way, Mann wrote some short stories featuring Sir Maurice Newbury. We already told you about "The Shattered Teacup". Now, thanks to the author and the kind folks at Snowbooks, SF Signal is pleased to be able to bring you another short story featuring Sir Maurice Newbury...previously available in the UK hardcover version of The Affinity Bridge...
It's called "The Hambleton Affair" and you can read it right here. (© Copyright George Mann 2008)
I've read it, and it's a fine and proper British mystery, with a dash of science fiction as well.
Enjoy! |
| 7. 2010 SF Hall of Fame Inductees |
The Science Fiction Museum and SF Hall of Fame announced that this year's Hall of Fame inductees:
- Octavia E. Butler
- Roger Zelazny
- Douglas Trumbull
- Richard Matheson
Winners were selected by a jury cosnisting of
Robin Wayne Bailey, Gavin Grant, Leslie Howle, Therese Littleton, George R.R. Martin, Brooks Peck, Robert Silverberg, Frank Wu. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place June 26 at Seattle's Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum as part of the Science Fiction Awards Weekend.
[via Small Beer Press and SciFi Wire] |
| 8. TRAILER: Tron Legacy |
We've had just a taste and a tease of Disney's upcoming Tron sequel, until today.Thanks to some enterprising fans who have been hard at work on the Tron Legacy viral site Flynn Lives we have the official trailer. [H/T to FirstShowing.Net]
But please, by all that's holy, watch it in HD. I love the look of the new computer world, I love the light cycles and I really think the soundtrack goes well. I believe it's been written by Daft Punk, though they just may have done the main theme. As Tron is one of my all time favorite SF movies, I will definitely be in the theater on opening day. In Imax 3D no less, 'cause that's the kind of guy I am... |
| 9. Avatar Fans Blue Over Oscar Loss |
 The Academy Awards have come and gone, leaving in their wake the usual amount of discussion and arguing over why movie X should have won Y award. It's no different this year, and the science fiction genre has lost out on its chance to take home the gold, with Avatar losing out on Best Picture and Best Director to Kathryn Bigalow's Iraq War film, The Hurt Locker. No doubt, Avatar fans are feeling a bit blue over this.
Avatar was a bit of a favorite for the Best Picture award due to its enormous take in the box office, helping to rejuvenate movie goers into seeing something truly breathtaking. Still, despite the numbers and the visual presence on the big screen, the film really didn't deserve the top honors that it was nominated for - it was a bit of a surprise on my part that the film was even nominated for the Best Picture and Best Director slots in the first place, for a couple of reasons... First, and foremost, Avatar was a huge film that wowed crowds because of its visual spectacle. While watching, I was blown away by the effects, the world, everything with how the film looked on screen. With a bit of reflection, the story decidedly didn't wow a lot of people. It was shallow, predicable, and not something to bring people to over and over again. That's fine - Cameron has never been one for subtlety - (Giant ships sinking, Robots from the Future, Aliens attacking bases in large numbers, etc) - and the film worked for what it was. Indeed, it won for Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects, the real stars of the show here. In the end, The Hurt Locker was a stronger, more relevant story that easily topped Avatar in the elements that really define the award: Story.
Second, Hollywood loves an underdog, and what better film than the tiny Hurt Locker to win against the half-billion dollar Avatar?
 But when you look at it, there were plenty of other contenders for best picture that would have better represented the genre for the top picks from the public. District 9 was a long shot to begin with, only included because of the larger slot of movies, but Inglorious Bastards certainly also falls under the Speculative Fiction category, and we'll throw that one in there because otherwise, people will yell at us. Both movies were good, with a lot of meaning and arguably better stories than Avatar, and no doubt would have done the genre proud as the first to win the Best Picture award.
 But, while we're talking about Story, this brings up one of my biggest complaints about the Academy Awards this year, and that's where Moon was overlooked for Best Picture and Best Actor, for Sam Rockwell's role as Sam Bells A, 1, 2 and 3. We can throw in Duncan Jones for a Best Director nod as well, because he did the whole thing for under $5 million. For me, Moon was the strongest picture that I saw all last year, with a fantastic, thoughtful and emotional storyline that made it a shining example for what a Science Fiction film should be: rich in story, special effects that supported said story.
 But, I don't need an award notation or a statue in some director's office to really be able to appreciate a film such as Moon, District 9 or Inglorious Bastards. I like them well enough as they are.
So, the Hurt Locker won, depriving the genre of a potential win (and therefore, according to some people, legitimizing the genre, showing that Geeks really are cool), but in doing so, it helped to preserve what makes the award good in the first place: it shows that story is still important, rather than the end result of box office figures and overblown special effects. Because if that was the case, Transformers 3 would be a sure contender for best picture, and nobody wants that.
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| 10. AUDIO REVIEW: Raven's Flight by Gav Thorpe |
REVIEW SUMMARY: More incentive to dive into a Warhammer 40K book.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Lord Corax and the Raven Guard are stranded without backup on the hostile planet Isstvan V.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Exciting military sf action; engrossing story; excellent production quality.
CONS: Predictable ending was somewhat of a letdown after all the goodness that came before.
BOTTOM LINE: This is another worthy audio production set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Once of these days, I just need to bite the bullet and read a proper novel set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Between my initiation (the audio production of Thunder From Fenris by Nick Kyme) and this follow-on experience with the audio production of Gav Thorpe's Raven's Flight, it seems like something that would easily provide lots of exciting military sf entertainment. While Raven's Flight does not quite match the overall enjoyment of the previous production, it comes fairly close.
Here's the setup of Raven's Flight: the mighty Corax of the Raven Guard leads a stranded legion on the remote planet of Isstvan V. Cut off from communication with the Imperial Army, Corax and his men must survive against numerous enemies. Meanwhile, back on the home world, Colonel Valerius of the Imperial Army begins having "dreams of blood and fire" regarding Lord Corax's current mission and must convince his superior, beyond all reason and against serious repercussions, that they should send ships to Isstvan V to help.
This particular two-threaded setup doesn't quite lend itself to an unexpected outcome, and worse for the ending, when it arrives it's somewhat of a letdown, happening much too fast to match up with the pacing of what came before. But if it's the journey that matters, then this story has what it takes to fulfill any military sf needs. The battle scenes are top-notch and filled with fast-moving cinematic action. For those with meatier "reading" requirements, there's also an interesting bit of tension between the Imperial guard and the mere humans that serve them. For Corax's part, he's a do-no-wrong engineered warrior...which somewhat accounts for his infallible battle acumen. But he also has a hidden ability that is more supernatural than science. (For those with previous WH40K experience, Raven's Flight is a story set in The Horus Heresy story line in which the Imperial army's Raven Guard fights the legions of Horus, a renegade son of the emperor.)
Like Thunder From Fenris, this audio production also features the voice talents of Toby Longworth whose excellent performance helps bring the drama to life. You could sense the determination and loyalty of Corax in his vocal delivery. Combined with the music score, Raven's Flight proves to be a high quality audio production of a good military sf story.
Running Time: 68 minutes. |
| 11. How To Design A Book Cover in Under 2 Minutes |
From Orbit Books' cover designer Lauren Panepinto shares this highly-cool high-speed video that shows the creation of the book cover for Changeless by Gail Carriger...
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| 12. TOC: Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, May/June 2010 |
 Here is the table of contents for the May/June 2010 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, which goes on sale on May 4th, 2010:
Novelettes: - "Why that Crazy Old Lady Goes up the Mountain" by Michael Libling
- "Thief of Shadows" by Fred Chappell
- "Dr. Death vs. the Vampire" by Aaron Schutz
- "The Crocodiles" by Steven Popkes
Short Stories:- "A History of Cadmium" by Elizabeth Bourne
- "The Real Martian Chronicles" by John Sladek
- "Remotest Mansions of the Blood" by Alex Irvine
- "Seven Sins for Seven Dwarves" by Hilary Goldstein
- "Silence" by Dale Bailey
- "Forever" by Rachel Pollack
- "The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe" by Robert Onopa
- "The Gypsy's Boy" by Lokiko Hall
Departments:- Books to Look for by Charles de Lint
- Musing on Books by Michelle West
- Coming Attractions
- Films: "Blockbuster as Religious Experience" by Kathi Maio
- Competition #79
- Curiosities by Bud Webster
[via SFScope] |
| 13. SF Tidbits for 3/9/10 |
 Interviews/Profiles
News
Articles
Fun Stuff
Want More? See SF Signal's Twitter and Facebook pages for additional tidbits not posted here! |
| 14. [Guest Post] Part 1: A Manifesto of Imaginative Literature by Justin Allen |
For the Love of Pete, Don't Mix Your Genres;
Or... The New York Times Book Review Hates YOU, but I Don't;
Or... Why Where Your Book Gets Shelved Determines Your Intelligence, Work-Ethic and Value to Society
That's a longish title I'll admit, and while I generally don't go in for such larded vessels, in this case I'm willing to make an exception. Monstrous though it may seem (and most assuredly is), the above title sums up pretty much everything I have to say on the subjects of writing and publishing. The first line ought to be read as a word of warning to struggling writers. The second explains - in as much as an explanation of the unintelligible is even possible - why the publishing industry behaves as it does. And the third highlights our common enemy, which turns out to be ourselves.
Really - if I must say so myself - that title is a wonder of economy, precision and restraint. But maybe you'd like me to elaborate? Normally I'd refuse - principally on the grounds that my arguments tend to be weakened by exploration - but as I have been contracted to provide a minimum of fifteen minutes of reading diversion, I will betray myself and attempt to explain... Why Where Your Book Gets Shelved Determines Your Intelligence, Work-Ethic and Value to Society.
You'll excuse me if I start at the end. It's an old habit of mine, which I have found serves to confuse readers, making them easier to hypnotize into subscribing to my particular point of view.
You may recall that I suggested, just moments ago, that we are our own common enemy. I am speaking of book readers, or more precisely, of book buyers. It took me a long time to realize this, but it was an awakening of life-altering proportions when I did. So here's the argument.
You know how when you walk into a bookstore (let's say Barnes & Noble, since we all know how those are laid out) there are signs directing you to particular shelves? Go to these five stacks if you want fantasy or science fiction, those ten if you want YA, the four on the other side of the aisle for history, those ten over there for literature and fiction, these five for romance, the two across from romance for horror, the back corner by the café for magazines and journals, and in the deepest recess of the store is the shelf marked 'psychology,' but which you know from experience will mostly consist of books filled with sexy pictures that make you feel like your grandmother is looking over your shoulder.
Anyway, have you ever noticed how, from the minute you walk into the store, your feet naturally take you right to a particular section? Sometimes I say, - "no, no feet, I don't want to go to fantasy today, I'm looking for the new biography of Chief Joseph." But you know what? My feet don't give a hang for what I want. They know how to steer me. They know I don't really want to be looking at romance or history. Heck no! I'm a fantasy reader and that's all there is to it. In fact, I scarcely look at those other stacks as I make my way to the old reliable. And by the time I leave I'll most likely be carrying a book with a black cover emblazoned with the image of a dragon or orc, or possibly some otherworldly wizard, standing over the prone body of a woman in a metal bikini - and poor Chief Joseph utterly forgotten.
But how do the books get placed in their appointed shelves anyway? Who decides which books get stuck in the fantasy section, and which go in literature and fiction? I happen to know the answer to that question. The store does. Or in the case of Barnes & Noble and its ilk, a faceless corporate suit makes that decision (and once that decision is made, god help the drones on the floor if they should determine that a book is more appropriate for some other audience). Publishers can give some instruction, but ultimately the store gets final say, no matter how capricious or arbitrary. And how do they make their decisions? My theory, developed from having lurked in stores over the years, is that they do it by cover design (you didn't think you and I were the only ones who judged a book by its cover, did you? Those metal bikinis don't get onto the books by accident, you know).
"So what," you may ask? "I like fantasy novels. Why can't I just head over to those stacks and be done with it?" You can... Jeez, no one's trying to take anything from you. But what if the book that was going to change your life - and there are books that do, you know - isn't shelved in fantasy? What then?
Let's examine a couple of books and try to see where such problems might lie. Book One: "The Hobbit." Yes, yes, we all know where to find "The Hobbit." It's in fantasy, right next to "Lord of the Rings." And far be it from me to suggest differently. If a book is placed where everyone can find it, it is well placed! But why is it on the fantasy shelves? It's a book for young people, is it not? And I for one would be more than happy to have it sit with "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" in Literature (or is THAT in POETRY?). And what if "The Hobbit" was an only book, or a first book, or it required YOUR discovering it by chance? Would you? What if those darned feet of yours kept taking you to the fantasy shelves, but "The Hobbit" was in YA? Now that sounds bad!
Another case, just for fun. We all know that "Twilight" (yes, I am talking about "Twilight," don't be a snob!), can be found in YA. But what if it'd been shelved as horror? Would the horror fans have enjoyed discovering that book? Is it even horror? I KNOW it has vampires - simpering vampires who are stronger and faster than superman, but who are still, for no good reason I can figure, afraid of 'humans' - but are they the sort of vampires that fans of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" would enjoy? Rather than answer, I direct you to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1glNuQiE77E.
Now, the thing about both of these cases is that they actually turned out all right! The proper audiences found these books and the authors are making oodles of cash (be they dead or undead). But what books did things not turn out all right for? Which books - books you might have adored - have you missed out on because your feet - those damned zombie feet - carried you right past all the other sections in the store?
And don't give me the whole computer answer. Of course you can find any book on the internet, providing you know to search for it. What books do we have not even the slightest idea exist?
Plus there's that darned cover problem we alluded to earlier. What if the publisher gives it a bad cover? Or a misleading cover? Or what if the bookstore misjudges the cover and so sticks it on a shelf amongst books you'd never consider in a million years? I've written a bit about my own experiences with cover design (this is only partially on topic, but allows another neat link) here. http://www.melissacwalker.com/blog/2010/02/cover_stories_win-it_wednesday.html#comments. But if you'd like to see how bad this problem really is, I direct you to an essay written by a young reader with whom I have conversed a bit of late. She is passionate in her hatred of the cover for an anthology of fantasy stories by Asian Writers, "The Dragon and the Stars." Read her objection and ask yourself why the cover in question is so offensive to her, and why the publishers might have chosen the cover they did. Hint: It has to do with marketing to the fantasy readers like me, who the publishers and stores think are being led to the stacks by their zombie feet. Anyway, check it out. http://galnovelty.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-which-i-finally-talk-about-that.html. Did you click all the way through to the cover in question? Good. Then let me ask you, would you pick up THAT book? First, it's purple! That's strike one for me. It's the worst sort of cartoonish! Strike two. And the cover features a reptile that is nothing whatever like an Asian Dragon (my suspicion is that the publishers chose a western dragon to appeal to greasy-haired, pimple-faced, white suburban kids who want "real" dragons. Those are the fools who haunt the fantasy stacks, right?) Strike three, and I for one don't even pick it up off the shelf. Who knows if there is a life-changing story in there? Not me, because I won't read it.
Last, though possibly most important, there's the ego problem we all face. You know what I mean, right? Things like - 'Romance is for horny old ladies;' 'History is for people without imagination;' 'Horror is for girls with two much eye make-up;' and worst of them all is that dreck they refer to as 'literary' fiction. Am I right? Who's with me?
'Literary' fiction is an sickness I've been suffering with on and off since my MFA days at Columbia (yes, I have an MFA. But I was just a kid. I didn't KNOW!!). My personal moniker for what publicity types call 'literary' fiction is, "the fiction of breathless self-importance." You know what I mean, books with out-of-focus pastel covers, an extreme avoidance of anything like plot or entertainment, full of writing in a tone that refuses to lift itself above the level of monotonous murmur, without the least passion, complex philosophical outlook, or sense that there might be something, ANYTHING, the least bit exciting in the world. Yes indeed, those books are, as a rule, truly awful. But you know what? As it turns out, those 'literary' knuckleheads have an opinion about us, too! Check this out: http://www.themillions.com/2009/06/slinging-stones-at-genre-goliath_18.html. Now, I don't mind saying that everything about Sonya Chung's understanding of writing, publishing, reviewing and reading are dead wrong (she asserts, for instance, "With its obligatory happy endings, strict conventions, formula elements, and, above all, comforting predictability, genre fiction will always garner a wider audience than literary fiction." Does that sound anything like the 'genre' fiction you love?). But here's the kicker. She actually believes that she is the intelligent, philosophical reader/writer with points to make, and we out in the imaginative world (a term I use passive-aggressively to suggest that maybe she has no imagination to speak of) are just hacks.
Does she have any points? Of course she does. Some of us are hacks! But what she absolutely refuses to admit is the fact that none of us WANTS to be a hack. We are all trying the best we can. Same as her! Most of what we in the imaginative world write will go into the toilet of time and obscurity. But so will most of what her side of the spectrum writes! Even those books raved about in the New York Times Book Review and its ilk will mostly fade into despairing nothing. And a great many books not so lauded will come to stand the test of time - the only real determination of literature, no matter its genre.
So what does all of this amount to? Simple. No matter our genre affiliations, we betray ourselves as readers by being positively choked with prejudice. It is a disease we have right from the bottoms of our zombie feet to the greasy hair atop our pimply faces. We foam at the mouth with prejudice against different genres, different cover designs, different backgrounds (I can't give back my MFA now, can I?), and different paths toward readership.
But I didn't set out to be this way, did you? Of course you didn't. So how did this happen to us? The answer is somewhat surprising, but I assure you it's true.
The fact is...
Read Part 2 at Debuts and Reviews.
Read Part 3 at Grasping for the Wind
About the Author, Justin Allen
Justin was born in Boise, Idaho in 1974. He graduated from Boise State University with a degree in philosophy, and from Columbia University with an MFA in fiction. He is the author, most recently, of "Year of the Horse," an all-ages fantasy-western that tells the story of sixteen-year-old Yen Tzu-lu, the child of Chinese immigrants and one of a band of treasure hunters brought together from every corner of the continent to recapture a stolen gold mine. Leading Tzu-Lu and his gang is the gunslinger Jack Straw, a figure who is as much legend as reality, as much magic as lead. Ultimately, this band of outsiders finds it must learn to live together, trust and care for one another. If they make it across a wild continent, they'll be rich; if they don't, they'll surely be dead. Get your copy at Indiebound (why not support your local store?), BN.com, or Amazon.
Justin is roughly six feet tall, weighs somewhere around 185 pounds (often more, to his chagrin), has dark-brown hair and eyes, and suffers from near-sightedness, motion-sickness, and a tendency to get angry at airport personnel. His wife, Day Mitchell, a licensed master social worker, is trying to help him overcome this last item, but finds the going hard.
He can be contacted via justin-allen.com.
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| 15. TOC: 'The Living Dead 2' edited by John Joseph Adams |
 John Joseph Adams has posted the table of contents for his sequel zombie anthology The Living Dead 2:
- "Alone, Together" by Robert Kirkman
- "Danger Word" by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due
- "Zombieville" by Paula Stiles
- "The Anteroom" by Adam-Troy Castro
- "When the Zombies Win" by Karina Sumner-Smith
- "Mouja" by Matt London
- "Category Five" by Marc Paoletti
- "Living with the Dead" by Molly Brown
- "Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco" by Seth Lindberg
- "The Mexican Bus" by Walter Greatshell
- "The Other Side" by Jamie Lackey
- "Where the Heart Was" by David J. Schow
- "Good People" by David Wellington
- "Lost Canyon of the Dead" by Brian Keene
- "Pirates vs. Zombies" by Amelia Beamer
- "The Crocodiles" by Steven Popkes
- "The Skull-Faced City" by David Barr Kirtley
- "Obedience" by Brenna Yovanoff
- "Steve and Fred" by Max Brooks
- "The Rapeworm" by Charlie Finlay
- "Everglades" by Mira Grant
- "We Now Pause For Station Identification" by Gary Braunbeck
- "Reluctance" by Cherie Priest
- "Arlene Schabowski Of The Undead" by Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon
- "Zombie Gigolo" by S. G. Browne
- "Rural Dead" by Bret Hammond
- "The Summer Place" by Bob Fingerman
- "The Wrong Grave" by Kelly Link
- "The Human Race" by Scott Edelman
- "Who We Used to Be" by David Moody
- "Therapeutic Intervention" by Rory Harper
- "He Said, Laughing" by Simon R. Green
- "Last Stand" by Kelley Armstrong
- "The Thought War" by Paul McAuley
- "Dating in Dead World" by Joe McKinney
- "Flotsam & Jetsam" by Carrie Ryan
- "Thin Them Out" by Kim Paffenroth, Julia Sevin & RJ Sevin
- "Zombie Season" by Catherine MacLeod
- "Tameshigiri" by Steven Gould
- "Zero Tolerance" by Jonathan Maberry
- "And the Next, and the Next " by Genevieve Valentine
- "The Price of a Slice" by John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow
- "Are You Trying to Tell Me This is Heaven?" by Sarah Langan
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